Anindya Bakrie: Indonesia Aims to East-West Balance in Nickel Industry

Singapore, VIVA – The Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Anindya Novyan Bakrie, expressed Indonesia's commitment to encourage downstreaming.

He believes that Indonesia can accelerate the nickel downstreaming in existing nickel projects in the country, although there are many steps that the Indonesian government needs to take.

It aims to balancing the East and West in the sector, while considering the latest developments in global geopolitical constellations.

"We need to do it wisely. I think balancing between the East and the West has always been Indonesia's geopolitical strategy," Bakrie said in an exclusive interview with CNBC television in Singapore, on Wednesday (Sept 18).

He emphasized that constitutionally, Indonesia must remain neutral, non-aligned, and so on.

However, on the economic side, Bakrie stated that Indonesia has all the potential to export essential minerals that are being processed and added value in Indonesia to Western countries.

"For example, within our group (Bakrie Group), around one and a half years ago, we launched a consortium called the Indonesian Net Zero Consortium with many Western companies," he said.

He continued, "The idea behind launching the Indonesian Net Zero Consortium was to ensure that the world can see a secure, guaranteed, and sustainable supply chain from Indonesia,"

However, in order to achieve this, Bakrie emphasized that Indonesia needs three things.

"Indonesia needs capital, technology, and better free trade agreements,"

Furthermore, he revealed that under the Prabowo Subianto administration, a free trade agreement with the United States would be achievable.

In his opinion, Prabowo's capacity makes it highly possible to realize this, leveraging geopolitical opportunities to position Indonesia as a leader of the Southern Hemisphere nations and Southeast Asia.

Also, as a balancing factor between the East and West, which the world currently needs.

"Looking at Prabowo Subianto's track record in building diplomacy in the past, including as Minister of Defense, I feel optimistic about what he can achieve," he concluded.